Google unveils its Modular Smartphone Prototype “Spiral 2”

Recently at the Project Ara Modular Developers Conference at Google’s campus in Mountain View Google announced that it will launch its modular smartphone, known as Project Ara, with a limited market pilot in the US territory of Puerto Rico later this year.For those of you who haven’t heard about it before , Project Ara is a codename given by Google to a Project that aims at creating a platform for building modular smartphones . These phones consist of an outer endoskeleton which will hold all your parts like screen, camera ,speakers etc and this endoskeleton will be filled up with various parts of the phone which are known as “Blocks”. You can add or remove any block you want to which makes it completely customisable unlike other smartphones .

It recently unveiled its latest prototype named as “Spiral 2” .There are a lot of things that have changed since its predecessor .First of all Google has moved on from 3D printing the covers of modules, now they are being done with injection-molded polycarbonate plastic.It also includes moving the electro-permanent magnets from the modules to the metal endoskeleton frame.The screen currently in use sports a resolution of 1280 by 720, and cell connections are enabled by a 3G radio.Other advancements in this one include planned support for 3G networks, along with the framework for a marketplace where users will be able to find and purchase extra modules.

Paul Eremenko , the head of this project stated out that this will lead to inexpensive smartphones that can be customized and upgraded by users depending on their budget or personal requirements.You want a heart rate sensor , Done!You want a good quality speaker , Done ! You want a nightvision camera Done !!

How much Project Ara modules might cost is unclear, but it must be low if Google is to attract people looking for their first smartphone. Eremenko said in April last year that the bill of materials for a basic Ara handset complete with display, Wi-Fi, battery, and processor modules would run about $50, though he didn’t put an estimated sale price on it.